The present invention relates generally to the identification of materials bearing explosives and more particularly to a spot test for the identification of materials containing 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene, TATB.
TATB, 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene, is an important explosive having use in both the military and private sectors. Consequently, methods for determining the presence of this explosive in various materials are under investigation. Prior attempts to develop a spot test for high explosives containing TATB have failed since it is insoluble in most common solvents, and the test reagents have either been unstable or nonspecific. For example, among the reagents investigated for this purpose are di-n-butylamine/N,N-dimethyl formamide which did not give a positive test for TATB although it gave a positive result for other polynitroaromatics, ethylene diamine/dimethyl sulfoxide which was found not to be very selective, and diethylamine/dimethyl sulfoxide which lacks stability. Also tried was concentrated potassium hydroxide which also lacks selectivity, giving a positive test with hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine and 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazacyclooctane. Moreover, it caused sufficient yellow coloration in certain plastic bonded explosives to give a false result with regard to a material's TATB content.
Some of the test procedures which have been found to produce characteristic colors for certain explosives are detailed in the following four references:
1. "Color Reaction for Determination of Some Meta-Dinitro Aromatic Compounds," by James P. Heotis and Jesse W. Cavett, Anal. Chem. 31, 1977 (1959);
2. "Paper Chromatography of Substituted Trinitrobenzenes," by David M. Colman, Anal. Chem. 35, 653 (1963);
3. "Quantitative Spectrophotometric Analysis of Polynitroaromatic Compounds by Reaction with Ethylenediamine," by Donald D. Glover and Eleonore G. Kayser, Anal. Chem. 40, 2055 (1968): and
4. "Rapid Identification of Some Explosives by the Use of Spot Tests," by D. M. Colman, Mound Laboratory Publication No. MLM-2051, (1973).
None of these references teach a test for TATB or describe how one might accomplish this task.
In "On the Colour Reaction of Polynitrocompounds," by T. Urbanski, S. Kwiatkowski, and W. Kuthkiewicz, Bull. Acad. Pol. Sci. 7, 397 (1959), the authors describe color reactions for several explosives. In particular, they dissolve the explosive of interest in acetone and add a potassium hydroxide solution to the solution. This reference teaches away from the subject invention in that TATB does not dissolve in acetone and therefore cannot be identified using the method disclosed therein.